Chicago Calling

Dan Duryea gives a chilling performance in John Reinhardt's "Chicago Calling" as a man whose world has come crashing down around him. His desperation reels a number of people into his life as he tries to gather enough money to continue a call with his wife after learning that their daughter has been in a car crash. Among the film noir genre, this is not the most readily available movie, but that doesn't mean that you should blow off trying to see it. This is one of the most impressive movies that I've seen, and one of the most devastating. I don't know of any other movies that Reinhardt did, but if this is indication then he must have been a very good director.

More than anything, "Chicago Calling" shows why film noir was probably the best genre to arise in the post-war years. Gritty with minimal violence, chilling without being corny, and always thought-provoking. I've liked ever film noir that I've seen, and that includes this one. Really good.

This was a nice little film. Duryea played the average man here, a bit down on his luck as we first see him, a point emphasized by the stairway that we see him descending in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles en route home. His wife is about to leave him since he's chronically unemployed, and says she's going to take their daughter with her.

This happens the next day and then he later gets a telegram stating that his daughter was injured in a car accident and is about to undergo surgery. He'll supposedly get the details the next day via a phone call. But that's just it - his day started out bad, and only got worse as the phone company terminated his service and if that isn't bad enough, his dog is also injured in an accident while he's out trying to scrounge up money to pay the bill so he can get the call the next day.

It reminded me of Loretta Young's "Cause For Alarm" in which we follow the protagonist through an agonizing day, in her case she was trying to retrieve an incriminating letter. It may have been sunny in each film, but the characters are having one very dark day.

"Chicago Calling" may be the title, but what we get is the lower environs of Los Angeles in all of its seediness. But still some helpful characters emerge, such as a counter-woman who must have seen The Grapes of Wrath and has a soft spot for Duryea's woe, and a young boy, the one whose bicycle hits Duryea's dog. The boy's "help" only compounds Duryea's problems, but he meant well.

A very nice job on a low budget, the director John Reinhardt died the next year, but based on this and "Open Secret" - another budget job that had antisemitism in its sights, he had a lot of promise that might have been fulfilled had he gotten the breaks.

Dan Duryea needs $52.00 to get his phone turned back on, to hear about his daughter, injured in an accident. When it is CHICAGO, CALLING on his phone, will Dan hear what happened to his wife and child, or is Duryea just as doomed to misery as any other noir protagonist.

It seems like every b&w movie made circa 1950 that doesn't have Abbott and Costello or Martin & Lewis gets labeled a noir by somebody. In this case -- the label is simply wrong, as there is no real crime, or fatalistic resignation to fate. Instead, this is a character study in which Duryea has what, one hopes, is the worst week of his life. Fate and surprises do play a role, but chance in this one flings both good and bad surprises, and provide hope and despair. There are some really lousy people, but good ones too.

Duryea, himself, plays a well-rounded character, who really is the author of his current despair, but also the author of the circumstances that might just bring about his own redemption. And Duryea, given a truly good role, responds with the sort of subtle, well-rounded performance that is supposed to earn an actor an Oscar. No such luck, alas -- the independent film that played the art houses had not been invented yet, and this out of step cheaply made story of the downwardly mobile was not the sort that got bookings -- even as the second part of a double feature.

This film is sort of semi-rediscovered. Film blogs have noticed it. IMDb rates it highly. There is a DVD, I believe. But I wonder if it will ever get the respect it deserves. The director made a few cheap noirs for Monogram, and not much else. Duryea is respected as an actor, but beloved for his villainy in westerns and noirs, rather than his occasional star turns, in which his flawed heroes suffer for their flaws. This is a brilliant film. But it does not fit a category, and its world view is perhaps not as bleak as intellectual fashion would prefer.

So, find this movie and see it. And spread the word. While the cinematic and critical sins of 1951 cannot be fixed, our view of the past and what it has to offer us can always evolve.

This is a movie I never forgot, nor the actor Dan Duryea. Every time I see Dan Duryea in a movie, I always remember the movie "Chicago Calling". If I remember correctly, I first saw the movie in the late 50's; and being ten or eleven years old, was very sad to see a father trying so hard to get his phone back on so as to be able to get word from his wife, that she and their son were going to be okay after a car accident. The accident with the little dog made it even sadder. It's nice to know, though, that there are good people working for the telephone company, as was the character that played the part of the telephone man sent to disconnect the phone, but is nice enough to make sure a man waiting for a call from a loved one that was involved in an accident, is given an an opportunity to connect and not be disconnected, like what happens to many of us when we are late in paying our telephone bill. Gee, I really would like to see this movie again.

Prior to viewing Chicago Calling, I saw Dan Duryea in supporting roles in Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, and Winchester '73 to name a few. Those were all unlikable villains with no redeemable qualities. With him as the star of Chicago Calling, I was skeptical if he could carry a film, particularly as a character I could sympathize with.

Duryea, however, proved he is far more dynamic than I previously thought. The premise is simple: a man who lost everything with only himself to blame needs money to receive a phone call that will tell him the condition of his daughter after a serious car accident. Duryea's character grieves, pities himself, and has periods of self-reflection all with compelling sincerity. Paired with him is the child actor Gordon Gebert, who has good chemistry acting alongside Duryea.

Chicago Calling will probably always remain an obscure film noir, but it is arguably the best of Duryea's career. I expected a typical film of the genre, and it exceeded my expectations. Duryea may not have the star power of Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum, but do yourself a favor and watch a performance that greatly raised my opinion of him.